Lando Norris cuts into Max Verstappen’s world championship lead as Carlos Sainz wins Mexico GP

Lando Norris cut Max Verstappen’s world championship lead by 10 points after the Red Bull driver was handed 20 seconds in penalties as he forced his title rival off the track in a dramatic Mexico Grand Prix.
Norris drove a brilliant final stint to finish second in Mexico City, behind winner Carlos Sainz but crucially four places ahead of Verstappen as he cut the lead to 47 points with four races remaining and 120 points to play for.
Norris was demoted behind Verstappen after being penalised for overtaking his rival off the track in Austin last time out, with the controversial incident dominating the agenda throughout this weekend.
McLaren challenged that five-second penalty as they arrived in Mexico, claiming that Norris was ahead and Verstappen had forced him off the track, but the stewards rejected their right of review.
The title protagonists came together again just 10 laps in at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as Norris was forced to leave the track twice within three corners.
Verstappen forced Norris wide at turn five before charging into turn eight, running Norris off the track and staying ahead as the McLaren man skirted with the wall.
On this occasion the stewards agreed that the Dutchman was in the wrong. The championship leader was initially handed a 10-second penalty for forcing Norris off the track at turn five.
“10!? That’s quite impressive,” Verstappen said over the radio.
His race engineer Gian-Piero Lambiase replied: “There was a lot of whinging. A lot.”
Watch
But it soon got a whole lot worse for the three-time world champion as the stewards punished him with another 10-second penalty for gaining an advantage by leaving the track at turn eight.
Norris had started third, a place behind his championship rival, on the 768-metre blast down to turn one – the longest on the Formula One calendar.
Verstappen got the better start, quickly jumping ahead of pole-sitter Sainz.
Norris had got a good slipstream behind the leading pair but could find no way through and the battle was soon neutralised by a safety car after a heavy first-corner collision between Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon – with both drivers retiring from the race.
That replay 😲💥Thankfully Yuki is out of the car and ok! pic.twitter.com/Y921DDqXww
The Mexican crowd have roared on Sergio Perez all weekend, despite the under-pressure Red Bull driver qualifying only a lowly 18th.
He surged up to 13th by the time the safety car was called but, to add further misery to the man who this week labelled his season as “terrible”, he was handed a five-second penalty for a false start after beginning outside his grid box.
The race resumed on lap seven as Verstappen comfortably retained his advantage but Sainz remained with DRS range and just two laps later used it to sling up the inside at turn one and regain the lead.
But that was only the start of the drama as next time around Norris and Verstappen came together.
“I was ahead the whole way through the corner.” Norris said over the radio.
“This guy is dangerous. It’s the same as last time. I’ll be in the wall in a minute.”
The stewards agreed with Norris, handing Verstappen his 20 seconds of penalties.
Austin race winner Leclerc passed the pair of them during the drama to move up to second.
Verstappen pitted and served his 20-second penalty on lap 27, dropping from third to 15th and over 41 seconds behind Norris.
An eternity for Max ⌛He serves his 20-seconds worth of penalties during his first pit stop ⏱️ pic.twitter.com/J5hRMfya0z
The Red Bull man soon charged back up to finish sixth, however, as he attempted to limit the damage in pursuit of his fourth successive world title.
But Norris produced a superb drive on the hard tyres as he clawed away at Leclerc’s advantage, getting within DRS range before Leclerc ran wide at the final corner to yield second place.
Sainz cruised to his second win of the season in a boost to Ferrari’s constructors’ championship hopes.
Carlos in tears after a DOMINANT victory 😢🏆 pic.twitter.com/BKGfjr1pkz
Mercedes pair George Russell and Lewis Hamilton duelled throughout, with Hamilton finally passing his team-mate with five laps remaining to claim fourth.
Perez pitted at the end from 16th and finished last in what could prove to be his final home race.
Red Bull drop to third and do not look like regaining second, let alone first. Ferrari are now just 29 points behind McLaren and might even be favourites for the championship. 
The problem is that of course when you are slower you are being put in those kind of positions. It’s not about agreeing or disagreeing… I am not going to give up easily. 20 seconds is quite a lot bu the biggest problem of today is the race pace which is really not good. It’s something we need to analyse. I am not worried, this is just a really bad day for us but I also know that we can do much better than this. 
Max didn’t leave the track at turn four and then at seven Lando opened the door very late, they both ran off there. I think we’re going to get into very dangerous territory at what point is a dive bomb going to be ok. The FIA and the drivers need to sit down and [decide] what is acceptable and what isn’t. I thought two 10-seconds [penalties] was a bit harsh today. 
You’ve always got to play to the rules. We’ll look and learn from the race. More important for us today we just didn’t have the pace. Our race pace was nowhere compared to the Ferrari and McLarens. 
The gap down to 47 points with four rounds and two sprint races remaining. Still an enormous ask. Norris took 10 points out of Verstappen this weekend and with four weekends left he needs to do more than that on average for the next four. Not impossible but it would need one very bad weekend for Verstappen in there, at least. Worse than this one, arguably. 
I think the Spanish into Italian national anthem is a good combination. 
The first time Sainz has won more than one race in an F1 season. Four in total now. Might get a chance at a couple more before the year is out given Ferrari’s current form. McLaren should be worried. 
Karun Chandhok of Sky Sports F1 grabs him on the way to the podium and asks him about the 20-second penalty in total for Verstappen. 
Probably not enough. It’s getting a bit ridiculous now, so I applaud the FIA stewards. Enough is enough. Let’s just have some good clean racing going forward. I think the stewards are on it. I think that’s clear by the penalties that they assessed. I don’t think we need to do anything [more] just let the stewards do the jobs they’re doing. 
It’s incredible to see this crowd. I’ve been feeling their support all week, I feel like I have a lot of fanbase in Mexico. Honestly I really wanted this one, I really needed this one for myself. I’ve been saying I wanted one more win for Ferrari before I leave… if another one comes I will go for it. 
I didn’t prepare for it [Verstappen overtake] to be honest. I was just a bit annoyed at the start, having lost position to him. I said I need to surprise him one way or the other because Max is super difficult to pass. I had nothing to lose I said I am just going to send one down the inside. 
It was a very tough race. The first few laps, a lot of was trying to stay in the race and avoid any crashes. Congratulations to Carlos and Ferrari, they were very quick today, I tried my best.
On the incidents with Verstappen:
I knew what to expect. I didn’t want to expect such a thing because I respect Max as a driver but I was ready to expect something like this – this is not very clean driving in my opinion. I avoided it and it was a good race. I just keep my head down. I am doing my best, we are doing a very good job as a team. I think today we were probably the quickest in the end. We’ll keep pushing [for the constructors’]. 
It was a difficult one on the first stint, it was all about trying to manage the temperatures. At the end we did the best race we could do. Third place was the best we could achieve on my side today. Amazing race by Carlos today, it was a good weekend overall for the team which is positive. 
We are working super well as a team, it has been quite a few races now where we are coming back to the level [we need to be at]… with weekends like this we are getting closet to the [constructors’] title. 
Verstappen finished nearly a minute off the winner. Even taking away the 20-second penalty I am not sure he had the pace to challenge for the victory or even the podium. He constantly complained about his tyres. He has lost a chunk of his championship lead but I think he should still be OK. But it is not what he needed.
He wanted one more win with Ferrari.He got one more win with Ferrari.’Cause he’s a smoooooth operator 😉#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/zJXslK7dgL
Two wins in two weeks for Ferrari! Second place for Lando Norris as he fought back from third. Leclerc in third sets the fastest lap, though Perez may beat it. Though it looks unlikely as it stands. Indeed he is nearly a second slower than Leclerc’s final lap. 
CARLOS WINS IN MEXICOOO!!! 🇲🇽 ​🔥#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/L4Wr4lZMdw
Hamilton fourth, Russell fifth and Verstappen sixth. 
Sainz cruising to victory. It will not be a 1-2 for Ferrari but they should be pleased with first and third. Seems like a long time ago that Verstappen aced the start and took the lead. 
Not sure he will be able to do it. Some debris on the track heading into the stadium section from that Lawson/Colapinto incident I assume. 
Oh, they are going to bring him in. In any case Lawson took the fastest lap point off Norris. Leclerc will surely get that now. 
And Verstappen eight. That would be the kind of margin he needs but needs to repeat every weekend, pretty much. 
Leclerc now 5.9sec behind Norris. 
At long, long last Lewis Hamilton moves into fourth. Lawson and Colapinto clash, leading Lawson needing to put for a new front wing. 
LAP 66 / 71After ten hard-fought laps, Hamilton FINALLY gets past Russell into Turn 1, and the Mercedes is up to P4! 💪#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/BmWuTlj6mE
His last lap was 0.001 faster than Norris the last time around, so I think Norris will have to be happy with second here. Meanwhile Hamilton still trying to find a way past his team-mate George Russell. And failing to do so. 
 
Leclerc has a big gap behind so may as well change tyres and try and get the fastest lap point from Norris? Piastri has 11 seconds to make up to Verstappen but Magnussen, between them, was actually faster. Is Verstappen under threat from Magnussen? There’s five seconds between them. I don’t think so. 
Leclerc runs wide at the final corner and Norris is gifted second place! Does Norris have enough pace and enough laps to take the win? Not sure. Leclerc did very well to keep it out of the barriers there as her was headed right for them as the lost the car trying to get the perfect exit.
Whoa, that was close for Charles! 👀Norris makes it a Carlando 1-2 👏 pic.twitter.com/Hr5OzV8mHS
Not close enough in turn one to try a move. Piastri told to get a move on to get Verstappen but he has Magnussen to overtake first…
If they finish here what does it do to the drivers’ championship? Norris would score 16 points, Verstappen 8. So that’s an eight-point difference. Not enough, really. 
Norris not quite within DRS as they enter the final sector. Sainz looking pretty comfortable now. Should be an easy win unless his tyres fall off the cliff. Hamilton goes around the outside of Russell at turn six and seven but still he’s behind. Verstappen not really closing in on them. 
Norris might well have DRS on the pit straight… hmm not quite this time. 
Leclerc caught Stroll at a bad time in the lap but Norris gets DRS on the pit straight and Stroll lets him through before turn one. Sainz has extended his lead as Leclerc is told that “we need your best driving now”. 
His brake temperature now under control. 
Wonder if Leclerc lost time lapping Lawson. He now has Stroll ahead. Norris has Lawson and gets DRS which will help his chase of Leclerc. 
I think Ferrari should hit the “concerned” button now. Leclerc’s pace has dropped off. Norris now 2.2sec behind. Might be due to lapping cars, though but either way…
He doesn’t quite seem to have the advantage over his team-mate on the pit straight. Nor anywhere else for that matter. 
Norris now only 3.2sec behind Leclerc as the Monegasque losing half a second to Sainz ahead and Norris behind for some reason. 
Seventh and eighth, which is as good as they can hope for, really. A really impressive season. 
A small chunk: 0.5sec on the last lap. All top three cars within 10 seconds on track now. Is there life left in this race? They all seem to be converging, albeit quite gradually. 
Hamilton in fifth is right on the back of his team-mate. 
That tends to work out better for the drivers behind the leader rather than the leader himself. 
“My opinion is that we are pushing too hard. Absolutely no need for the team,” he says. Unfortunately for him Lando Norris is now less than four seconds behind Leclerc in second so what does he want the team to do exactly?
The gap is pretty much where it has been the entire stint. Norris is eating into Leclerc’s advantage, though. Colapinto stops and it’s a slow stop with a tardy right rear wheel change. 4.4sec. 
Verstappen’s pace is not brilliant, kind of falling into a no man’s land behind Hamilton and ahead of Magnussen. 
A second fastest lap in a row. 0.3sec faster than Leclerc and Sainz last time. Chance of rain increasing it seems, but to what extent we do not know and when we do not know either. Not imminent, though. Probably around another 30 minutes left in the race. 
Takes a couple of tenths out of Leclerc this time. I wouldn’t be worried too much if I were Ferrari but it is something to keep an eye on. Leclerc has got the gap down to six seconds nearly, though he reduced Sainz’s lead by just 0.001sec the last time around. 
He takes out 0.25sec or so out of Leclerc ahead, who takes out nearly two-tenths from Sainz. All within the same boundaries, though, but let’s see if any of these trends continue. No traffic for the top three currently with Perez in last and Zhou the only drivers to have been lapped. 
Here’s the top 10:
“Very small” ones, though. Mind you, Russell thought it was raining once and it was just sweat on the inside of his visor. 
Verstappen complains of a lack of grip. He is lapping around 0.3sec slower than Hamilton ahead on slightly older tyres. 
He is told there is currently nothing to worry about when it comes to rain hitting the track. Sainz, Leclerc and Norris are lapping fairly similarly but that just means the gap is just staying about seven seconds between the two Ferraris and five seconds between Leclerc and Norris. 
If it finishes like this then Ferrari would overtake Red Bull to move into second and close the gap to McLaren significantly. 
Good going from the Spaniard. 
He sets the fastest final sector of anyone, though it was pretty much level with Leclerc. Norris has dropped to 5.1sec behind Leclerc, losing 0.3sec the last lap. 
Colapinto in ninth says something is wrong with his steering, moving from stiff to soft and back again. 
On the team radio. I am sure we will hear from them after the race. Verstappen just doing his best to get his head down and march through the field. Liam Lawson is the next man in his sights. 
Sainz leads Leclerc by 7.5sec as he says he had a big misfire out of turn three. He lost three tenths to Leclerc, but most of that in the middle sector. 
Norris sets the fastest final sector time but hasn’t really made much inroads into Leclerc in this stint. Ferrari are much better on their tyres than they were last year, whilst the McLaren tends to come alive towards the end of stints so perhaps that is no great surprise. 
He is stuck a bit on older tyres fighting with a couple of Mercedes cars and Liam Lawson. 
Ferrari have really got their game together since the end of the summer break. Norris makes up a couple of seconds on Leclerc because of that undercut. Let’s look at the relative paces in the next few laps to see if Norris is in the fight for second, or even the win. 
Sainz has plenty of time to come into the pits and come out in the lead as Verstappen gets Bottas for ninth. 
He wants one more lap but does come in at the end of this one. 
As does Russell. 
The early SC was too early to turn it into a potential two-stopper. Norris told to pit at the end of this lap and he does. “Not to cover Verstappen,” says David Croft on Sky Sports F1. Of course it’s not to cover Verstappen, who is miles behind after his penalty. 
Box, box!Hard tyres for Lando. ⚪️#MexicoGP [Lap 32/71] pic.twitter.com/QU76QuKcLb
He was at his petulant worst then. Should have taken pole but had his lap deleted for not slowing for yellow flags then had a big old moan about it afterwards. Anyway, he is approaching Esteban Ocon’s Alpine for 11th after some of those ahead have pitted. 
7.3sec the lead with Norris a further 6.5sec behind. 
Behind Ocon and Zhou and on fresh hard tyres. 24 seconds Verstappen was stationery for as Red Bull did not want to run the risk of incurring another penalty for touching the car when it was serving the previous penalty. 
Verstappen complains his tyres are not holding on. Can he hold onto third from Norris? He is told to pit so, no is the answer. This will be a long stop. However long it takes plus 20 seconds, 
There is no point taking any risks here given Verstappen’s 20-second penalty. But he will not want to lose any more time. That said, has the McLaren got the pace to challenge the Ferraris anyway?
LAP 25 / 71Norris is on the gearbox of Verstappen’s Red Bull but hasn’t yet found a way past 🔍He’ll take P3 with the penalty to be applied anyway, but the two Ferraris are escaping up the road ahead! #F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/LTWhLfUFbf
OUT: ALO, ALB, TSU
Verstappen has Norris within DRS range again. 
Can’t quite hear what he said in the first instance but he eventually calls it silly. 
Verstappen is going to be furious. Christian Horner is going to be furious. 
Anyway, Sainz gaps Leclerc by 3.3sec now and they are both well ahead of Verstappen. 
LAP 20 / 71Verstappen receives a second, separate 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during that earlier skirmish with Norris! ⚠️#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/MYZDDyJkOh
2.4sec the gap between the two Ferrari drivers. The Perez and Lawson incident is a strange one. Perez went in too deep into the first part of the second chicane, Lawson perhaps felt a bit hard done by and went deep into the next one and Perez had no choice but to go off track, as Lawson didn’t in the first place.  Perez has a big old hole in his sidepod and left plenty of carbon fibre on the track. 
Perez and Lawson make CONTACT as they clash for P10 💥😲 pic.twitter.com/tRngTOOGq6
That is the second incident we talked about. 20 seconds in total… oof. That is big stuff. That would significantly drop him back, naturally. 
Perez the man behind, they go wheel-to-wheel for several corners and touch as Lawson runs Perez off track, perhaps. Perez is unable to take the place and then falls back into the clutches of Lance Stroll in 12th. 
“What the f— is this idiot doing? Is he OK?” Perez asks about Lawson on the radio. A man who may well replace him at Red Bull next year. 
For what, exactly? Leclerc has dropped back a little. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso pulls into the pit lane and becomes the third retiree from the grand prix. 
Into turn one. Hamilton with a late move. Norris 1.3sec behind Verstappen but no real rush to overtake given his rival’s 10-second penalty. 
Not that we’ve seen much of them in the last couple of laps. 
Not sure if that is two five-second penalties or one 10-second penalty. Thoroughly deserved as far as I am aware. You cannot do what he did and expect to get away with it. He is normally very good at pushing the limits and staying legal but he did not do that this time. 
“10, that’s quite impressive!” he says. His race engineer says “there was a lot of whinging. A lot”. 
The incident has been noted. In fact both of them have. Verstappen in both instances, I believe. 
Who could have predicted this? This is a complete mess. They get very close at the second chicane, Norris passes him off the track but will he give the place back? He doesn’t. Or isn’t able to. They then both run off track AGAIN and Leclerc goes through into second!
LANDO AND MAX CLASH ⚔️Their battle lets Charles Leclerc through into second! 👇 pic.twitter.com/ZXpqi35Fqw
Norris has a complain about Verstappen’s driving and rightly so. Verstappen ran Norris off the track once, possibly deliberately, and again perhaps accidently. Not sure if Norris was trying to give the place back in amongst it in the second instance. 
Classic Verstappen. 
The DRS effect is massive and the Ferrari sticks it up the inside of the Red Bull at turn one. Cleanly but from a long way back, really. Goes slightly deep and clunks the kerb a little but trying to keep the car within track limits but he keeps it on the second straight and the next chicane. 
CARLOS SAINZ TAKES THE LEAD IN MEXICO! 🌶️🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/BgxjsB9IVk
Verstappen complaining about a “f—— empty battery”. Norris closing in on Verstappen now. And also Sainz. 
Sainz has a better first sector. Can he stay within a second of leader Verstappen?
It looks good so far and he gets DRS…
Verstappen nails the restart but Sainz is pretty close by the end of the straight, albeit not close enough to try a move. That might not be the case if he can stick with him for the next lap or so until DRS is re-enabled. That said Verstappen is doing his best to break the one-second mark so that Sainz doesn’t get DRS. It works so far…
Verstappen leads Sainz, Norris and Leclerc. Think this restart will be tasty…
 
Five seconds. 
Five wins in total and five in the last six editions. Probably should have won in 2019 too but for a penalty in qualifying. 
That is for a jump start. Looks like he was in front of his pit box at the start. Another low point. Penalty yet to be confirmed but it looks clear. 
LAP 3 / 71We’re under safety car here as the marshals clear the two stricken cars 🟡It’s VER, SAI, NOR, LEC and HAM, the top five.#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/MDnVjobo52
…as Tsunoda and Albon crash out. 
IT’S LIGHTS OUT, AND AWAY WE GO! 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴Max takes the lead in a frantic first lap that ends with a safety car 🚨 pic.twitter.com/gSrtKYa9lE
Here is the order of the top 10 under the Safety Car with Albon and Tsunoda out of the race: 
Perez up to 13th. Piastri still in 17th despite those two crashing out ahead of him. 
It really was a superb start from Verstappen. Sainz goes around the outside but had to go off track to avoid the collision but then handed the place back. What happened with Tsunoda? He collided with Albon. Not sure whose fault it was. High speed and there’s not a lot of room there with three or four cars across the track. 
A concertina effect really. Don’t think it was Albon’s fault. Just bad luck. A racing incident. 
Verstappen gets an excellent start and positions his car beautifully on the inside. Norris is in his slipstream but there isn’t the space for him to think about a move up the inside. Sainz and Verstappen get close in turn one and the Spaniard decides to go over the grass and takes the lead illegally. 
Somewhere at the back Tsunoda has gone into the wall and spins out. Albon too a little further down the pack is out on the second straight I think. That could bring out the SC. Indeed it does. Sainz gives the place back…
P3 is normally a good place to start. Norris has often had bad starts…
Everyone in the top 10, 11 in fact, on new mediums. Then it’s a mixture of hards and mediums from Lawson backwards. Perez on the hards, Piastri on the mediums. 
Carlos Sainz leads them away from his sixth career F1 pole. Three wins for him in F1 one each in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Can he make it two in a season for the first time?
Predictions? Here is my top six: 
1. Leclerc2. Verstappen3. Sainz4. Norris5. Hamilton 6. Piastri
Don’t know what it is but I think Russell will fail to finish. 
1. SAI 2. VER3. NOR 4. LEC5. RUS 6. HAM 7. MAG 8. GAS9. ALB 10. HUL11. TSU 12. LAW13. ALO 14. STR15. BOT 16. COL17. PIA 18. PER19. ZHO 
PIT LANE: OCO
Mercedes cars are in place. They have dropped off the pace a little since their excellent run before the summer break. 
📍 On the Grid pic.twitter.com/heccZ7bZSb
A few close contests in there, no closer than at Alpine where the pair are dead level after 24 events (20 qualifying and four sprint qualifying). Undoubtedly Lewis Hamilton’s worst season when it comes to qualifying. Fernando Alonso too has lost a bit of his total supremacy over Lance Stroll. Not close at Red Bull, mind you… nor McLaren. 
Tyre manufacturer Pirelli are predicting that the best way to navigate the race is a one-stop, either medium to hard or hard to medium. A two-stopper is possible starting on the softs, then doing two stints on mediums. Soft to hard is also possible, but may not be that popular. Hopefully we see some variety in strategy. Last week in Austin a two-stopper turned into an easy one-stop race for many, with those pitting early very much compromised. 
Verstappen and Perez are the only drivers to have two new sets of mediums. Other than that it is much of a muchness at the front when it comes to tyre choices: most have one new set of hards, one new and one used set of mediums at their disposal. With used softs, too. 
After today’s race: 
November 3: Sao Paulo Grand Prix, InterlagosNovember 23: Las Vegas Grand PrixDecember 1: Qatar Grand Prix, LusailDecember 8: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina
As I mentioned yesterday, Verstappen needs to be 53 points ahead after the sprint in Qatar – which does not seem too far off. Or, after the main race, just 27 points ahead of Norris (Leclerc still in mathematical contention). 
He could also win the championship in Las Vegas if he leaves there with a 61-point lead or possibly even a 60-point one depending on how many race wins he and Norris get between now and then. Race wins is the first tie-breaker and Verstappen currently has seven to Norris’s three. If Verstappen wins today then Norris cannot beat eight, with just four rounds left. 
And everyone else’s, for that matter.
RED FLAG IN Q2! 🟥Yuki Tsunoda finds the barriers 💥 pic.twitter.com/RuytNvvwxL
His 397th grand prix start, though. Here is his career in numbers. 
Debut: 2001 Australian Grand PrixFirst win: 2003 Hungarian Grand PrixRace starts: 396Wins: 32Poles: 22Championships: 2 (2005, 2006)Teams driven for: Minardi, Renault, McLaren, Ferrari, Alpine, Aston Martin
Of course, Alonso is more than just these numbers. Is there a driver – modern or otherwise – whose numbers do not tell the whole story of their abilities? Probably quite a few but 32 wins and (just) two championships does feel like an underachievement for a man of Alonso’s hefty talent. 
A lot of that, of course, comes down to his reputation and making some bad decisions along the way. Still, a mightily impressive career who will go down as one of F1’s greatest talents. Would you put him in the top 10 of all time? Probably, yes.
Everyone from Sainz up is in mathematical contention to win the drivers’ championship but given there are only 146 points left on the board and Sainz is 139 points behind with three other drivers between him and Verstappen… yeah, that isn’t happening is it?
As the races go on Norris’s hopes are becoming more and more theoretical too. Perhaps that has a plus side in taking each race as it comes, not that he has been talking his chance up or anything. Verstappen could also take the championship without winning any races in the second half of the season. The last time that happened was in 2009 with Brawn and Jenson Button. 
As strange as it sounds looking at this table, it is now a two-way fight for the championship and Red Bull are not in it. Good news for Ferrari is that they start this race 1-4 whereas Red Bull are 2-18 and McLaren 3-17. A perfect chance for them to overtake Red Bull and eat into McLaren. 
No stranger to frank opinion, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko let fly about Perez and Tsunoda in their qualifying struggles yesterday to Sky Germany. Tsunoda did out-qualify team-mate Lawson but also binned it at the end of Q2. 
On Perez he said: “I heard him on the radio complaining a lot about brake problems…but the hoped-for upturn that we all expected unfortunately didn’t materialise.” On Tsunoda: “He had a spin in Austin and now this crash in qualifying. We thought he had stabilised, but apparently now, when the pressure comes from Lawson, it’s noticeable.” 
It is not a big leap to think that as long as Lawson keeps it out of the barriers and mostly ahead of Tsunoda then he will be in that Red Bull alongside Verstappen at the start of 2025. The problem is that is a big leap from someone who has done just a handful of races to going up alongside a man who has destroyed the confidence of almost every driver he has raced in the same team as. 
I still think it’s mad they didn’t pick Carlos Sainz for next year when he was available. Perez’s poor form is the main reason why Red Bull are unlikely to win the constructors’ this year. 
He was due to line up 19th anyway but a replacement with a new energy store and control electronics without FIA approval means he will be required to start the 71-lap race from the pit lane. 
Esteban will start today’s #MexicoGP from the pitlane pic.twitter.com/XhbO9NGtVK
Oscar Piastri failed to make it into Q3 for the first time this season (though he has failed to make it into SQ3 as he did in Austin). He put it down to a mistake he made on his first hot lap in Q1 which was deleted for track limits. He never regained the pace enough to get through after that. 
Another, slightly less notable, eliminated driver was Sergio Perez. I pondered yesterday whether this was the lowest point of his career and it is hard to argue against that. In a car that is likely going to win the world drivers’ championship again, he has scored just 65 points since the Miami Grand Prix all the way back in early May. 
There is very little argument for Red Bull keeping his services next year, despite his contract. He was unlucky in Baku when he was the better Red Bull driver but that is one race since Miami where he has come close to the required standard. Being behind Verstappen is one thing, but it is the distance that is worrying. More concerning though is the trend. 
Welcome to our coverage for the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix as it is officially know, but the Mexican Grand Prix to most. Not sure what I think about city rather than country names for races when there is no other race in that territory but here we are. It is hardly the worst thing in the world. 
As has been the case for plenty of this season, yesterday’s qualifying session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was a good and largely unpredictable one. Oscar Piastri was fastest in FP3 but failed to make it out of Q1. Pierre Gasly was last in FP3 but made it into the top 10. And for much of the session Lando Norris looked like a shoo-in for pole position but could only manage third, 0.3sec or so behind polesitter Carlos Sainz and just shy of Max Verstappen’s time in second. 
Why? Well, this circuit is a low-grip one where it is difficult to string a lap together and several drivers certainly failed in that regard yesterday. Sainz did not, though, with both of his Q3 times good enough for pole. He has just four races left for Ferrari after today until he moves to Williams in 2025 and they come at a time when the team are on the up. He can look at that two ways, I guess. Firstly, annoyance that he is moving, secondly he should be happy that he has a car capable of this at all as plenty of drivers would love to drive this Ferrari for just a couple of races. 
Norris said he was happy with third, explaining that he believes he got the maximum from the car quite early and from then on it was about just maximising what was there rather than searching for what wasn’t. In any case, third is not such a bad place to be in Mexico City as the long run down to turn one with two cars ahead can be a significant aid. In fact, the man starting third has won here three times in the last four years.
Either way, it could be an interesting first lap. Norris and Verstappen clashed on track twice last week in Austin and it may well happen again here. Certainly the opening section of the track invites it. Norris probably should forget that he is in a championship battle with Verstappen and just race as he sees fit. The 57-point deficit he has to Verstappen makes his challenge almost theoretical at this point, given that Red Bull seem to have overcome the worst of their car issues. 
Anyway, the race begins at 8pm GMT and we will be here for all of the build-up, live updates and action and reaction from the race.